The purchase of an automobile is a very expensive and personal decision generally made after careful consideration of a variety of factors. As part of the selection process, purchasers necessarily must decide between a myriad of colors and materials for the exterior paint, upholstery and trim of the automobile. The selection and matching of colors for an automobile, i.e. a particular shade of white for the exterior paint, matched with a tan leather interior and trim, is a matter of taste that is personal to a particular customer, and the styles and colors of paint, upholstery and trim available for a particular automobile can influence purchasing choices. In recent years, the choices of colors and types of materials available for exterior paint, upholstery and trim of automobiles has greatly increased, increasing the choices of style combinations of exterior paint, upholstery and trim available to customers.
A problem often encountered in the selection and matching of exterior paint colors and colors and materials for upholstery and trim for automobiles is that unless an automobile having a specific desired color and material combination is on the dealership lot, it is difficult for the customer to easily and properly visualize the appearance of an automobile with such a combination. As space on dealership lots is limited, it simply is not possible for dealers to maintain a large inventory of automobiles in all available exterior, upholstery and trim colors. Thus, purchasers who desire a particular color automobile with a particular upholstery and trim style and color often have to order the vehicle through the dealership instead of buying directly off the lot or have to search several dealerships. Before purchasers order an automobile, however, generally the purchasers want to see what the automobile would look like with the particular desired color combination, especially when choosing some of the newer, brighter colors such as yellow, plum or various shades of red.
The matching of body paint, upholstery and trim materials and color heretofore has been done using books having pictures showing the different body, upholstery and trim colors and styles. Typically, the books have small pictures of the automobile having a particular color and, separated from the pictures, are swatches of upholstery and trim materials. The problem with using such picture books it is difficult for customers to properly visualize the appearance of the automobile having their particular desired color combination from just a book without seeing the car itself. It is difficult to directly compare the exterior paint colors and upholstery and trim styles by flipping the pages of a book, and often a representation of a color in a book is different from the actual appearance of such a color on an automobile. Additionally, some customers want to find out the available colors and material styles for a particular model automobile, but do not want to deal with a salesman in the early stages of car shopping or a salesman may not be available to show a customer a particular automobile.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exist for a means for providing automobile customers with choices and availability of combination for exterior paint color, and upholstery and trim colors and materials for automobiles and which enables customers to directly match paint, upholstery and trim colors and materials, to enable customers to quickly and easily visualize the actual appearance of an automobile having such a color and material combination without requiring assistance.